Shoppers and onlookers gather — and shiver — for the dedication ceremony for the opening of Bay Shore Shopping Center in Glendale on March 31, 1954. This photo was published in the April 1, 1954, Milwaukee Journal.(Photo: Milwaukee Journal photo)

The Sears store closed in December 2014, but its lease doesn't expire until this December.

Possible tenants for the new space, Daykin wrote, include Total Wine & More, Nordstrom Rack, T.J. Maxx and HomeGoods.

Sears was not part of the original Bay Shore Shopping Center, which had its grand opening March 31, 1954 — less than four years after Glendale incorporated as a city.

The Milwaukee Journal reported the initial plans for the center on its front page Jan. 28, 1953. Developer Bay Shore Center Inc. had approached the city about building a shopping center on a 36-acre site bounded by N. Port Washington Road, 500 feet north of Silver Spring Drive, Lydell Ave. and the old Town of Milwaukee cemetery.

The site — which included four homes and a former sand and gravel business — was to have three separate buildings for stores and offices, and parking for more than 1,000 cars. The Journal and Milwaukee Sentinel cited a price tag for the project of $5 million to $8 million.

Bay Shore was launched near the beginning of Milwaukee's shopping-center boom. Southgate Shopping Center, at S. 27th St. and W. Ohio Ave., had opened in 1951, and was expanding with a new Gimbels store. By 1953, proposals for what would become the Mayfair and Capitol Court shopping centers also were in the works.

Construction of the Glendale center began in mid-1953. In a promotional section published the day Bay Shore Shopping Center opened, the Milwaukee Sentinel gushed that the 'amazing project' was built 'in about half the time that experts, after preliminary surveys, were willing to predict.'

The Sentinel listed 38 stores at the shopping center on opening day, with the biggest both grocery stores: Kroger and Krambo food stores. Also in the mix were other national chains including Walgreen Drug Store, S.S. Kresge variety store, Kinney Shoes and Fanny Farmer Candy, as well as stores with a local flavor such as Larry Lynn Toys and Juvenile Furniture and Heinemann's Bakery.

When Bay Shore had its formal debut, people were ready for it, despite the frigid temperatures.

'More than 75,000 persons came by car, bus and on foot to edge their way into the beautiful semicircular maze of lights, shiny show windows and merchandise displays between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. to participate in the center's grand opening,' the Sentinel's Henry T. Garvey wrote in his story in the paper's April 1 edition.

'The surprising thing was that these people were really shoppers,' one store manager told The Journal. 'They didn't just come to look.'

Although the center opened at 9 a.m., the formal opening ceremony was held at 7 p.m. With the temperatures below freezing, shivering crowds were entertained by wandering clowns, music by Joe Gumin's Dixieland Band, and master of ceremonies Bob Larsen, a popular Milwaukee radio DJ. Cabaret singer Eileen Deneen sang 'The Star Spangled Banner,' wearing a large pair of men's gloves to keep warm.

Over the next decade-plus, Bay Shore continued to grow. Sears, Roebuck & Co. opened its store in October 1954 — according to The Journal, the 28,000-square-foot store was Sears' fourth store in Milwaukee and the retailer's first 'outlying shopping center store in the country' — and brought the shopping center's tenant roster to 47, with more to come. (The Sears store tripled its size in late 1958.)

Another department store anchor, Boston Store, joined the lineup in March 1958, and T.A. Chapman Co. was added in April 1967. (Boston Store remains a Bay Shore anchor; at the time T.A. Chapman closed, it was the last location for the venerable Milwaukee retailer.)

In 1975, the owners of Bay Shore announced plans to convert the shopping center to an enclosed mall, which allowed for the addition of seven mall-centric stores, including The Limited, Buddy Squirrel Nut Shop and Walden Books.

The retail complex went through its latest metamorphosis in 2006, with most of the center converted to a town-square-style development with a mix of smaller and big-box stand-alone stores, offices and apartments — with expansion of the former Sears site the next phase.

ABOUT THIS FEATURE

The Journal Sentinel's photo archives are testament to the idea that the past is never even past. If you dig deeply enough, you can find images from Milwaukee and Wisconsin's recent history that echo today.

Each Wednesday, Our Back Pages will dip into those archives, sharing photos and stories from the past that connect, reflect and sometimes contradict the Milwaukee we know today.

Special thanks and kudos go to senior multimedia designer Bill Schulz for finding many of the gems in the Journal Sentinel photo archives.